Every Deadline for a New York Workplace Claim, by Law and Forum

There is no single deadline for a New York workplace claim. The time limit depends on which law the claim rests on (federal, New York State or New York City) and where it is filed (an agency or a court), and the periods collected on this page run from 30 days for a federal workplace-safety retaliation complaint to four years for a federal race discrimination claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1981.⁠^[17][18] For the three laws most discrimination, harassment and retaliation claims rest on, the main numbers as of October 2026 are: 300 days for an EEOC charge; three years for a complaint to the New York State Division of Human Rights about conduct on or after February 15, 2024; one year for a complaint to the NYC Commission on Human Rights (three years for gender-based harassment); and three years for a lawsuit under the State or City law.⁠^{[1][4][5][7][6][8]}

How to read the tables: each row is one law in one forum, and each row has its own clock set by its own statute or rule.⁠^[1][4][7] The tables give the periods as the statutes, regulations and agencies state them. They are general information; a public employer, a written agreement or the facts of one case can change the answer, as the notes after the tables explain.

Discrimination, harassment and retaliation: the main table

This table covers Title VII, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), 42 U.S.C. § 1981, the New York State Human Rights Law (NYSHRL) and the New York City Human Rights Law (NYCHRL). A "charge" is the EEOC's term for the signed statement that starts a federal case.⁠^[11]

Law and layer	Where it is filed	Time limit	What the source says about the clock
Title VII (federal)	EEOC charge	300 days in New York	The statute sets 180 days after the practice, extended to 300 days where the person has first instituted proceedings with a State or local agency with authority to grant or seek relief, or 30 days after notice that the agency has ended its proceedings, whichever is earlier.⁠[1] The EEOC's New York District Office states the period for New York as 300 days from the date of the alleged harm.⁠[2] Day 300 is not a safe target in every case: under the EEOC's regulation, where the state or local agency has not waived its 60-day exclusive period, a charge first presented to the EEOC is not treated as filed until 60 days after deferral or until the agency ends its proceedings or waives, whichever is earliest, so a charge handed to the EEOC late in the 300 days may not count as filed in time.⁠[19]
Title VII (federal)	Lawsuit	90 days	A civil action may be brought within 90 days after the EEOC gives notice of the right to sue; the EEOC's regulation words it as 90 days from receipt.⁠[3][20]
ADA, employment title (federal)	EEOC charge, then lawsuit	300 days in New York, then 90 days	The ADA's employment title adopts the powers, remedies and procedures of Title VII, so the same charge and lawsuit periods apply.⁠[21][22]
ADEA, age (federal)	EEOC charge, then lawsuit	300 days in New York; lawsuit no sooner than 60 days after the charge	The charge is due within 180 days, or 300 days in a state with its own age discrimination law and agency. If the EEOC dismisses or ends the charge, a lawsuit follows within 90 days after receipt of its notice.⁠[23][24]
42 U.S.C. § 1981, race (federal)	Lawsuit, with no EEOC charge	Four years	The four-year federal period applies to § 1981 claims made possible by the Civil Rights Act of 1991, such as racial harassment and termination.⁠[18][25] Filing an EEOC charge does not pause this clock.⁠[26]
NYSHRL (New York State)	Division of Human Rights complaint	Three years	The complaint is due within three years after the alleged unlawful discriminatory practice.⁠[4] The three-year period applies to claims arising on or after February 15, 2024.⁠[5]
NYSHRL (New York State), conduct before February 15, 2024	Division of Human Rights complaint	One year, except three years for workplace sexual harassment	The Division states that for acts before February 15, 2024, the three-year period applies only to workplace sexual harassment, and that for all other types of claims the one-year time to file with the Division has expired.⁠[27][28]
NYSHRL (New York State)	Lawsuit in court	Three years	A court action for damages under the NYSHRL falls under the three-year period of CPLR 214(2) for a liability created by statute.⁠[6][29][30] The NYSHRL gives the court action to a person who has not filed a complaint on the claim with the Division or a local commission on human rights.⁠[31]
NYCHRL (New York City)	NYC Commission on Human Rights complaint	One year	The Commission has no jurisdiction over a complaint filed more than one year after the alleged unlawful discriminatory practice occurred.⁠[7][32]
NYCHRL (New York City), gender-based harassment	NYC Commission on Human Rights complaint	Three years	The Commission has jurisdiction over a claim of gender-based harassment filed within three years after the harassing conduct occurred.⁠[7][33]
NYCHRL (New York City)	Lawsuit in court	Three years	A civil action is due within three years after the practice occurred, and the three years are tolled (paused) while a complaint is pending at the City Commission or the State Division.⁠[8][34] Within 10 days after starting the action, the plaintiff serves a copy of the complaint on the designated representatives of the Commission and the Corporation Counsel.⁠[35]
Federal employees (federal sector)	Agency EEO counselor, then formal complaint, then lawsuit	45 days, then 15 days, then 90 days	Contact with an EEO counselor is due within 45 days of the matter; the formal complaint within 15 days of the notice of the right to file; and a lawsuit within 90 days of receiving the final action, or after 180 days if no final action has been taken.⁠[36][37][38]

The agency rows and the court rows for State and City law are alternatives, not steps: filing a complaint with the State Division or the City Commission generally bars a court suit on the same State or City claim.⁠^[39][31][40] The guide to election of remedies explains that rule, and the side-by-side comparison of the four forums sets out what else differs.

Pay, leave, whistleblower and other retaliation statutes

Law and layer	Where it is filed	Time limit	What the source says about the clock
Family and Medical Leave Act (federal)	Lawsuit	Two years; three years if willful	The action is due not later than two years after the last event constituting the violation, or within three years for a willful violation.⁠[41][42] The employee's court action is one route; separately, the Secretary of Labor receives and investigates complaints of violations.⁠[43][44]
Equal Pay Act (federal)	Lawsuit, with no EEOC charge	Two years; three years if willful	The period runs from when the cause of action accrued.⁠[45] The EEOC describes it as two years from the last discriminatory paycheck and says a Title VII charge does not extend it.⁠[46]
Labor Law § 740, whistleblower retaliation (New York State)	Lawsuit	Two years	The action is due within two years after the alleged retaliatory action was taken.⁠[47][48]
Labor Law § 741, health care employees (New York State)	Lawsuit	Two years	Section 741 is enforced through the lawsuit provisions of § 740, including its two-year period.⁠[49][50]
Labor Law § 215, retaliation for Labor Law complaints (New York State)	Lawsuit	Two years	The period is two years after the violation, and it is tolled from the date the employee files a complaint with the Commissioner of Labor until the investigation ends or a compliance order becomes final.⁠[51][52]
Labor Law § 201-d, off-duty conduct (New York State)	Lawsuit	None stated in the section	Section 201-d allows an action for equitable relief and damages but states no time limit of its own.⁠[53]
Workers' Compensation Law § 120 (New York State)	Complaint to the Workers' Compensation Board	Two years	The complaint is due within two years of the discriminatory act.⁠[54]
Civil Service Law § 75-b, public employee whistleblowers (New York State)	Arbitration or disciplinary hearing; otherwise a lawsuit	See note	An employee covered by an arbitration clause or a disciplinary procedure raises retaliation there; only an employee outside those procedures may sue, "under the same terms and conditions as set forth in article twenty-C of the labor law."⁠[55][56] Section 75-b itself states no period.⁠[57]
Labor Law § 27-a(10), public employee safety complaints (New York State)	Complaint to the Commissioner of Labor	30 days	The complaint is filed within 30 days after the violation occurs.⁠[58]
NYC Earned Safe and Sick Time Act (New York City)	Lawsuit	Two years	The action is due within two years of the date the person knew or should have known of the violation.⁠[59]
Occupational Safety and Health Act § 11(c) (federal)	Complaint to the Secretary of Labor	30 days	The complaint is filed within 30 days after the violation; the statute provides for suit by the Secretary.⁠[17][60]
National Labor Relations Act (federal)	Charge to the National Labor Relations Board	Six months	No complaint issues on an unfair labor practice that occurred more than six months before the charge was both filed with the Board and served on the charged party.⁠[61]
Sarbanes-Oxley Act § 806 (federal)	Complaint to the Secretary of Labor	180 days	The period runs from the date of the violation or the date the employee became aware of it.⁠[62]
False Claims Act retaliation, 31 U.S.C. § 3730(h) (federal)	Lawsuit	Three years	The action may not be brought more than three years after the date the retaliation occurred.⁠[63]
Duty of fair representation, public-sector and State-law unions (New York State)	Lawsuit	Four months	The period runs from when the employee knew or should have known of the breach, or from actual harm, whichever is later.⁠[64]
Duty of fair representation, private-sector unions (federal)	Lawsuit against employer and union	Six months	The Supreme Court applied the six-month period of the National Labor Relations Act to these suits.⁠[65]

The retaliation deadlines comparison and the guide to federal whistleblower laws cover these statutes in more detail. Civil claims for sexual assault have separate periods, set out in the guide to sexual assault civil deadlines and revival laws.

Deadlines that start when an agency acts

Event	Next step	Time limit	Source
EEOC issues a notice of right to sue (federal)	Lawsuit on the Title VII or ADA claim	90 days	The 90 days is the period for the civil action against the respondent named in the charge.⁠[3]
180 days pass after an EEOC charge is filed (federal)	Written request for a notice of right to sue	Available on request	For a respondent that is not a government body, the EEOC issues the notice on written request at any time after 180 days from the filing of the charge.⁠[66]
State Division dismisses a complaint or issues a final order (New York State)	Court review in State Supreme Court	60 days	The statute says the proceeding must be instituted within 60 days after service of the order.⁠[67] The Division's public pages put it as 60 days "of the finding" for a dismissal and 60 days "of the Order being issued" for a final order; the statute's wording is the one printed here.⁠[68][69]
City Commission dismisses a complaint (New York City)	Application to the Commission's Chairperson for review	30 days	The application is made within 30 days of service of the dismissal.⁠[70]
City Commission issues a final order (New York City)	Court review in State Supreme Court	30 days	The proceeding is due within 30 days after service of the Commission's order.⁠[71]
A federal court dismisses State or City claims it heard alongside federal claims	New action in State court	Time remaining plus 30 days	The limitations period is tolled while the claim was pending in federal court and for 30 days after dismissal, and the Supreme Court has held that "tolled" means the clock stopped.⁠[72]
A timely New York court action is terminated on certain grounds (New York State)	New action on the same events	Six months	CPLR 205(a) allows a new action within six months after certain terminations, if the defendant is also served within that time.⁠[73]

When does the clock start?

Federal charges. Under Title VII, each discrete act, such as a termination, a failure to promote, a denial of transfer or a refusal to hire, starts its own clock, and a discrete act outside the period is time-barred even if it is related to timely acts.⁠^[74] A hostile work environment claim is treated differently: the charge is timely if at least one act contributing to the hostile environment falls within the period, and the whole period of the hostile environment may then be considered.⁠^[75] The EEOC tells the public that in harassment cases the charge is due within 180 or 300 days of the last incident.⁠^[9] The days are calendar days, and if the last day falls on a weekend or holiday the person has until the next business day.⁠^[9] For pay discrimination, federal law treats each payment of wages resulting from a discriminatory pay decision as a new occurrence.⁠^[76]

State Division complaints. The Division states its period as three years from the most recent incident.⁠^[27] Under the Division's rule, a practice of a continuing nature is deemed to occur on any date after it began, up to and including the date it stopped.⁠^[77] New York State's model sexual harassment prevention policy says the three years are counted from the date of the most recent incident of harassment.⁠^[78]

City claims. A New York appellate court has held that the NYCHRL is not bound by the narrower federal rule on continuing violations, while also holding that an act before the limitations period counts only if it is joined to actionable conduct within the period.⁠^[79] The continuing violation guide compares the three layers.

Court actions. In New York State courts, time is computed from when the cause of action accrued to when the claim is interposed, and an action is commenced by filing the summons and complaint with the clerk.⁠^[80]

Resignations. For the 45-day federal-employee counseling period, the Supreme Court held that in a constructive discharge claim the period begins to run only after the employee resigns.⁠^[81] The constructive discharge guide explains that kind of claim.

What stops the clock, and what does not?

• Internal complaints and grievances do not. The EEOC says its time limits generally will not be extended while a person uses an internal grievance procedure, a union grievance, arbitration or mediation, and New York State's model policy says an internal complaint does not extend the time to file with the Division or in court.⁠^[9][78]
• A State Division "report" is not yet a complaint. The Division's intake begins with a discrimination report by phone or online; the Division says that report is not an official complaint, that its review may take several weeks, and that the complaint is officially filed when the person signs and returns the document the Division prepares.⁠^[82][12] The statute measures the three years to the filing of the complaint.⁠^[4] Neither the statute nor the Division's page says that a report made inside the three years protects a complaint signed after them.⁠^[12][4]
• The City Commission's online form does not. The Commission states that the limitations period does not stop until a verified complaint is signed, notarized, and mailed or personally delivered to its Law Enforcement Bureau.⁠^[10][83]
• An EEOC portal inquiry is not a charge. The EEOC states that submitting an inquiry is different from filing a charge of discrimination.⁠^[11]
• An EEOC charge does not pause a § 1981 claim. The Supreme Court has held that a timely EEOC charge does not toll the limitations period for a § 1981 action on the same facts.⁠^[26]
• An agency complaint pauses the City court clock. Under the NYCHRL, the three-year period to sue is tolled while a complaint is pending at the City Commission or the State Division, unless the complaint is dismissed for administrative convenience because of the complainant's own malfeasance, misfeasance or recalcitrance.⁠^[34][84]
• State court claims after a Division complaint. The NYSHRL says that when the Division annuls an election of remedies at the complainant's request, the right to sue "shall be limited by the statute of limitations in effect in such court at the time the complaint was initially filed with the division."⁠^[31] The statute's text does not say more than that about the time spent at the Division.
• Equitable exceptions under federal law. The Supreme Court has held that the EEOC charge period works like a statute of limitations and is subject to waiver, estoppel and equitable tolling.⁠^[85]
• The 2020 COVID-19 orders. A New York appellate court held that the executive orders in effect from March 20 through November 3, 2020, were a toll of New York filing deadlines.⁠^[86]

The guide on tolling and exceptions after a missed deadline covers these rules in depth.

What can make a deadline shorter?

Public employers. No action may be maintained against a school district, board of education or BOCES unless a written verified claim was presented to its governing body within three months after the claim accrued, and no action may be commenced against those bodies more than one year after the cause of action arose.⁠^[13][14] For counties, County Law § 52 requires claims for damages to be made and served in compliance with General Municipal Law § 50-e, and a concurring opinion in Margerum v. City of Buffalo states that the Court of Appeals has held an employment discrimination claim against a county under the NYSHRL subject to that notice-of-claim requirement.⁠^[87] Where § 50-e applies to a tort claim, the notice of claim is served within 90 days after the claim arises.⁠^[88] By contrast, the Court of Appeals held in Margerum that no notice of claim is needed for a NYSHRL claim against a municipality where General Municipal Law §§ 50-e and 50-i supply the only notice criteria.⁠^[89] See the guide to notice of claim rules for public employees.

Written agreements. New York's general rule lets parties agree in writing to a shorter limitations period, and in March 2025 a State appellate court enforced a six-month clause in an electronically signed job application.⁠^[15] Under the NYCHRL, by contrast, a provision in an employment agreement that purports to shorten the period for filing with the City Commission or for starting a City-law court action is unenforceable and void as against public policy; the Commission lists that amendment as effective May 11, 2024.⁠^[16][90][91] See the guide to contracts that shorten the time to sue.

Old numbers still in circulation

• "One year to file with the State Division." That was the rule for conduct before February 15, 2024, other than workplace sexual harassment.⁠^[27][28] The Division's own Rules of Practice, 9 NYCRR § 465.3(e), still printed a one-year period as published in October 2026; the statute says three years.⁠^[92][4]
• "The City and State agency deadlines are the same." As of October 2026 the City Commission's general period is one year and the State Division's is three years.⁠^[7][4]
• "Filing with the City Commission also files with the EEOC." The Commission states that it no longer automatically cross-files employment discrimination claims with the EEOC, and that a person who may want to pursue the claim in federal court should also file with the EEOC.⁠^[93]
• "The 90 days after an EEOC notice covers everything." The 90-day period in the federal statute is for the civil action on the charge against the respondent named in it; NYSHRL and NYCHRL court claims have the three-year periods in the first table.⁠^[3][6][8]
• "Safety retaliation complaints can wait months." The federal period under section 11(c) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act is 30 days.⁠^[17]

Because each law has its own clock, one claim can be out of time while another is still alive. Writing down the date of each event, and the date of the most recent one, is the practical starting point for reading these tables.⁠^[1][6][7]